海角大神

A prince, an ambassador, senior diplomats, top politicians. All brought down by the聽Jeffrey Epstein聽files. And all in Europe, rather than the United States.

The huge聽trove of Epstein documents聽released by the U.S. Department of Justice has sent shock waves through Europe鈥檚 political, economic, and social elites 鈥� dominating headlines, ending careers, and spurring political and criminal investigations.

Former U.K. Ambassador to Washington聽Peter Mandelson聽was fired and could go to prison. British聽Prime Minister Keir Starmer聽faces a leadership crisis over the Mandelson appointment. Senior figures have fallen in Norway, Sweden and Slovakia. And, even before the latest batch of files,聽Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor,聽brother of King Charles III, lost his honors, princely title, and聽taxpayer-funded mansion.

Apart from the former Prince Andrew, none of them faces claims of sexual wrongdoing. They have been toppled for maintaining friendly relationships with Mr. Epstein after he became a convicted sex offender.

鈥淓pstein collected powerful people the way others collect frequent flyer points,鈥� said Mark Stephens, a specialist in international and human rights law at Howard Kennedy in London. 鈥淏ut the receipts are now in public, and some might wish they鈥檇 traveled less.鈥�

The documents were published after a public frenzy over Mr. Epstein became a crisis for President Donald Trump's administration and led to a rare bipartisan effort to force the government to open its investigative files. But in the U.S., the long-sought publication has not brought the same public reckoning with Mr. Epstein's associates 鈥� at least so far.

Rob Ford, a professor of political science at the University of Manchester, said that in Britain, "if you鈥檙e in those files, it鈥檚 immediately a big story.鈥�

鈥淚t suggests to me we have a more functional media, we have a more functional accountability structure, that there is still a degree of shame in politics, in terms of people will say: 鈥楾his is just not acceptable, this is just not done,'" he said.

British repercussions

U.K. figures felled by their ties to Mr. Epstein include the former Prince Andrew 鈥� who paid millions to聽settle a lawsuit聽with one of Epstein鈥檚 victims and is facing聽pressure to testify聽in the U.S. 鈥� and his ex-wife聽Sarah Ferguson, whose charity shut down this week.

Like others now ensnared, veteran politician Mr. Mandelson long downplayed his relationship with Mr. Epstein, despite calling him 鈥渕y best pal鈥� in 2003. The new files reveal contact continued for years after the financier鈥檚 2008 prison term for sexual offenses involving a minor. In a July 2009 message, Mr. Mandelson appeared to refer to Mr. Epstein鈥檚 release from prison as 鈥渓iberation day.鈥�

Mr. Starmer聽fired Mr. Mandelson聽in September over earlier revelations about his Epstein ties. Now British police are investigating whether Mr. Mandelson committed misconduct in public office by passing on sensitive government information to Mr. Epstein.

Mr. Starmer has apologized to Mr. Epstein鈥檚 victims and pledged to release public documents that will show Mr. Mandelson lied when he was being vetted for the ambassador's job. That may not be enough to stop furious lawmakers trying to eject the prime minister from office over his failure of judgment.

American associates

Experts caution that Britain shouldn鈥檛 be too quick to pat itself on the back over its rapid reckoning with Mr. Mandelson. The U.S. has a better record than the U.K. when it comes to declassifying and publishing information.

But Alex Thomas, executive director of the Institute for Government think tank, said 鈥渢here is something about parliamentary democracy,鈥� with its need for a prime minister to retain the confidence of Parliament to stay in office, 鈥渢hat I think does help drive accountability.鈥�

A few high-profile Americans have faced repercussions over their friendly ties with Mr. Epstein. Most prominent is former U.S. Treasury Secretary聽Larry Summers, who went on leave from academic positions at Harvard University late last year.

Brad Karp quit last week as chair of top U.S. law firm Paul Weiss after revelations in the latest batch of documents, and the National Football League said it would investigate Mr. Epstein鈥檚 relationship with New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch, who exchanged sometimes crude emails with Mr. Epstein about potential dates with adult women.

Other U.S. Epstein associates have not yet faced severe sanction, including former Trump strategist Steve Bannon, who exchanged hundreds of texts with Mr. Epstein, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who accepted an invitation to visit Mr. Epstein鈥檚 private island, and tech billionaire Elon Musk, who discussed visiting the island in emails, but says he never made the trip.

Former President Bill Clinton has been compelled by Republicans to testify before Congress about his friendship with Mr. Epstein. Mr. Trump, too, has repeatedly faced questions about his ties to Mr. Epstein. Neither he nor Mr. Clinton has ever been accused of wrongdoing by Mr. Epstein鈥檚 victims.

European investigations

The Epstein files reveal the global network of royals, political leaders, billionaires, bankers, and academics that the wealthy financier built around him.

Across Europe, officials have had or resign or face censure after the Epstein files revealed relationships that were more extensive than previously disclosed.

Joanna Rubinstein, a Swedish U.N. official, quit after the revelation of a 2012 visit to Mr. Epstein鈥檚 Caribbean island. Miroslav Lajcak, national security adviser to Slovakia's prime minister, quit over his communications with Mr. Epstein, which included the pair discussing 鈥済orgeous鈥� girls.

Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland have set up wide-ranging official investigations into the documents. Poland鈥檚 Prime Minister Donald Tusk said a team would scour the files for potential Polish victims, and any links between Mr. Epstein and Russian secret services.

Mr. Epstein took an interest in European politics, in one email exchange with billionaire Peter Thiel calling Britain鈥檚 2016 vote to leave the European Union 鈥渏ust the beginning鈥� and part of a return to 鈥渢ribalism.鈥�

Gr茅goire Roos, director of the Europe program at the think tank Chatham House, said the files uncover Mr. Epstein鈥檚 鈥渇ar-reaching鈥� network of contacts in Europe, 鈥渁nd the level of access among not just those who were already in power, but those who were getting there.

鈥淚t will be interesting to see whether in the correspondence he had an influence in policymaking,鈥� Mr. Roos said.

Norwegian revelations

Few countries have been as roiled by the Epstein revelations as Norway, a Scandinavian nation with a population of less than 6 million.

The country's economic crimes unit has opened a corruption investigation into former Prime Minister Thorbj酶rn Jagland 鈥� who also once headed the committee that hands out the Nobel Peace Prize 鈥� over his ties with Mr. Epstein. His lawyer said Mr. Jagland would cooperate with the probe.

Also ensnared are high-profile Norwegian diplomat couple Terje R酶d-Larsen and Mona Juul, key players in the 1990s Israel-Palestinian peace efforts. Ms. Juul has been suspended as Norway鈥檚 ambassador to Jordan after revelations including the fact that Mr. Epstein left the couple鈥檚 children $10 million in a will drawn up shortly before his death by suicide in a New York prison in 2019.

Norwegians鈥� respect for their royal family has been dented by new details about Epstein鈥檚 friendship with聽Crown Princess Mette-Marit, who is married to the heir to the throne, Prince Haakon. The files include jokey exchanges and emails planning visits to Epstein properties, teeth-whitening appointments, and shopping trips.

The princess apologized Friday 鈥渢o all of you whom I have disappointed.鈥�

The disclosures came as her son from a previous relationship, Marius Borg H酶iby,聽stands trial聽in Oslo on rape charges, which he denies.

This story was reported by The Associated Press.聽AP writers David B. Caruso in New York and Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report.